Miami Velvet Case a Reminder: Don’t Use Images to Which You Don’t Have Rights (YNOT)

Read the full article by Gene Zorkin at YNOT.com

MIAMI, Fla. – A federal jury in Miami has determined Miami Velvet, a swinger’s club, must pay $892,500 to 32 women whose images (and in some cases, their names) were used without their permission to promote the club.

The jury’s award of damages comes two years after U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez found in favor of the women in 2017, determining the club was liable for false advertising. The models had sought damages totaling $5.3 million, significantly more than the jury awarded Monday.

In many respects, the case is reminiscent of incidents in which adult dating sites have used models’ images without their permission – with the difference being that in the case of Miami Velvet, some of the models’ names were used as well, falsely suggesting they were members of the swingers’ club, whereas in the adult dating cases, the sites often tried to pass off professional adult performers as amateurs and/or site members.

Among the high-profile models whose images were used by Miami Velvet were Joanna Krupa, who has appeared on “The Real Housewives of Miami” and “Dancing with the Stars”; Cora Skinner, who has appeared in Maxim and Muscle & Fitness in addition to several television roles; and Jaime Edmondson Longoria, a former Boca Raton police officer and Miami Dolphins cheerleader. Krupa was awarded $65,000 by the jury, while Skinner and Longoria were each awarded $32,500.

Gene Zorkin has been covering legal and political issues for various adult publications (and under a variety of different pen names) since 2002.